Flesh, Blood, & Bone
by HandOfTheQueen
Summary: A night out for Emma Swan introduces her to the mysterious and beautiful Regina Mills. Emma's life gets turned upside down as the possessive woman worms her way further into Emma's world. As time goes on, Emma may realize she may have gotten more than she bargained for with Regina.
1. Chapter 1

**Story Rating: M (For language, mature themes, potential violence and future sex scenes.)**

**Additional Info: AU story line (No Fairy Tale Land/Curse.) Slight OOC for some characters introduced later on in the story. Set in modern day Boston with a twist. Stick around for a few chapters and you'll find out what's in store for Emma and Regina, if you haven't guessed already. My goal is to try and keep this story ten chapters or less.**

**Disclaimer: I own no rights associated with Once Upon A Time. I am simply borrowing the characters. No beta so all mistakes are my own.**

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While not the most lavish of creatures, Emma certainly could not help but feel somewhat homely in her outfit. Over a light colored tank she wore a spotless loose button up, and fastened around her neck was a dull red scarf that seemed to swallow up her neck. Jeans that had seen better days were tucked into her ankle high boots, and a modest ring that matched her scarf settled on her ring finger. On her right hand of course. Her future held no rings of fidelity. When she had first tried the outfit on, she had struggled with how everything fit together. Usually on her days off from work she did not go out. Emma preferred to capitalize on the down time she had without the struggle of managing work and the few classes she took at Boston University, but the company that was dragging her out tonight seemed to be able to worm a lot out of Emma where others had failed. Emma had sized herself up in the mirror with an impressed nod before she left that night. Now she felt uncertain.

It was ten o'clock and her roommates were still nowhere to be found. On the weekends that seemed to be the usual, but it was Thursday and Emma expected at least one of them to be back by now to start the night off. She'd have to deal with them when she found them at the club. A bar wasn't where Emma loved to go if she wasn't working, but the call of booze overrode her hatred of the competing club Flesh, Blood, and Bones was a lot edgier than the bar Emma worked at. The people milled about, laughing and talking. Students in gaudy outfits scampered across the floor. A few were begging for some free drinks, only to be turned away by older patrons, dressed just as outlandish as the rest of the company. The real crowd was beginning to wash across the dance floor, forcing patrons to dance up on company they did not come here with. Red lanterns had been strung up between the many pillars, and upon every table's counter a pile of candles bloomed with a red light. In the center of it all, a live DJ played nearby, his songs mainly comprised of beats mashed up with popular songs heard on the radio.

Only an hour and a half had passed since the Emma's grand entrance, yet still Emma's eyes would occasionally stray, searching for entertainment in the crowd. She drifted among the milling masses, like so many bees thronging upon the small village green, and no matter where she went she stood out like a pale light. Emma could always find a better source of amusement in a moment's notice; her gaze was drawn to that overtly sensual swagger, those movements sinuous and deadly as a serpent's. Emma found herself captivated by the smallest of things: the sculpted twirl of a woman's fingers, the poised wrist, the gliding step, those eyes holding the light, preserving it like an insect in amber, and glinting blackly against pale, unblemished skin.

Hands fastened at her sides, and Emma wandered closer to the tables, seeking the warmth of the bar. Then she found where she wanted to place herself. Dark shapes passed between her, the bodies of the citizens dancing, fading into the background as shadows twisting to the frantic beat of a distant drum, the uneven bruit of her own heart, roaring in her ears. Mouth suddenly dry, Emma raised her hand to get the attention of the bartender. A server's eyes met her across the table Emma had settled at and tensed. A slow smirk spread across Emma's features. She lifted a hand to her face and tapped her lips. Blinking furiously, it took the bartender a good minute to realize that Emma was referring not to her own mouth, but to his. Face burning, the young man scrubbed at the smug stuck to his upper lip and the tip of his nose with the back of his hand. Across the way, Emma's smirk widened and her shoulders shook with low chuckles. When the bartender looked up again, he saw Emma's attention moving away, heading towards the crowd next to her. "Just get me what ever is on tap," she demanded, her focus no longer amused by the young man behind the counter. Now Emma spent her time wondering where the hell her roommates was.

The distinct warmth that came from the consumption of alcohol coursed through the twenty one year old's veins as she took a pull of her beer. There was a buzzing of conversation and the music held a much faster tempo that Emma was fairly certain would led to the eventual grinding that the generation seemed to be notorious for doing. She viewed it as some ritualistic mating dance routine that evidently ended with the girl and guy face-to-face in a lip lock that made everyone around them sneer in disgust. As time proceeded, Emma found herself watching her neighbor almost as much as she watched the crowd, gaze traveling all across her intimidating form. At one point she caught herself staring as the older woman slowly took a pull of her own wine glass. The head of the red wine pooled on her lips and Emma visibly gawked as she watched just the tip of the stranger's tongue come out to collect the liquid. '_Shit,'_ Emma mentally commented. The warmth had taken over every inch of her figure. "God damn it Jess…" Emma muttered before huffing in annoyance at the idea that she had left her behind to go get her fill of the night somewhere else. Her roommates didn't even have the decency to wait for Emma to arrive to the club before leaving her behind.

"Rough night?" the woman asked, getting a bit closer to Emma. "Regina Mills," she introduced, "Let me get that for you." Regina slid Emma's bill back towards the blonde and motioned to the bartender to place her drink on Regina's tab.

Emma countered with a weak smile as the woman introduced herself. Her new club companion was Regina Mills. The momentary feeling of being star struck mixed with the warming sensation from the alcohol caused Emma's mouth to practically unhinge as she gawked. The club owner offered to buy her drink and Emma dared not rebuke the offer.

"E...Emma Swan." She stammered for a moment before the almost vertigo feeling eased from her body. She wasn't one to fret over 'important', yet Regina had been two things that Emma wasn't anticipating. One was that Regina was obviously a real person and not the painted facade that was rumored to stalk the club. She couldn't blend in with the crowd. The second was that Regina was far more attractive in person than any other person she had ever seen.

There was a tug at the corner of Regina's lips as she watched the flash of recognition in Emma's eyes. She had seen it so many times before. Regina would hover in the background of her club's dance floor and she would still be stopped by a handful of people trying to worm a few drinks off of her or get into the VIP lounge. It was the trade off of her business, but as far as 'terrible' went, Regina would take it. In all honesty she enjoyed the attention almost as much as she enjoyed the traffic in her club. Someone had tried to convince her a long time ago that is was due to the fact that she got lost amongst her mother's ambition growing up, but Regina knew the real reason. She simply enjoyed knowing that people were staring at her. And if Emma's slight stutter of recognition wasn't downright adorable, Regina didn't know what was. "Nice to meet you Emma." She offered out her hand towards her new bar buddy.

Emma eyed the woman's choice of drink, and silently approved of the choice. The hand that extended towards her was surprisingly cold. The other patron's voice was almost lost to the music, but Emma felt the movement to her left. She shook her head while shrugging casually, "Shitty friend. "What about yourself?" Emma shoved all those thoughts away before attempting a bit of small talk.

"Me? Just looking to get out for the night. Somehow spending my night tucked away in my office didn't seem so appealing." She brought her glass up to her lips and took a long pull from her drink. The warmth traveled down to the pit of her stomach and gave off a pleasant burn. "I'm glad I got out of my tower," she joked, boldly taking in Emma. Underneath her clothes Regina could tell that the woman was cut, perhaps slightly athletic than herself, but definitely not lacking. "Do your friends make a habit of leaving you behind?"

"Not the worst thing they've done." Emma lips shadowing smile as she recalled the many other antics that her friends forced her to take part in before she found herself passed out, hungover, and barely clothed in very public places. "My friends forced me to participate in their weekly 'bar crawl,' which I've only done once before with them." The fluttering of nervous butterflies filled her stomach, but she easily ignored the feeling the brought with them. "Honestly, they tend to leave me whenever they find someone that they'll end up hot and heavy with." She shrugged it off as though the entire thing was the usual for the group of girls to slowly disappear back to their apartment with a person that interests them. Emma usually just ended up taking a cab back home alone to spend the remainder of her drunken night passed out on the couch and trying to drown out the sounds of her roommates and their pickups.

Regina smiled along with Emma as she eluded to some of her crazy adventures out with her wayward friends. Sounded like a promising group of people, but Regina was happier to have Emma here alone at the bar. "Good to know you can keep up." A good night out could have easily been ruined if Emma had turned out to be one of those girls who could not handle a little heat every now and again. Memorable nights didn't come from staying at home tucked under the sheets. '_Well... with the right company that could be pretty memorable,'_ Regina mentally corrected herself.

Emma nearly confessed that she felt too awkward for the shenanigans that she ended up being forced to take part, while her friends seemed empowered by some force that eluded her. Instead, she just returned a smile and nodded before opening her mouth to speak, "I like to think that I can keep up with the best of them." She tilted her head at angle that was aimed at the mass of moving bodies. She wasn't ever much of a dancing type, yet each year she only seemed to go that much more ignorant about the socially accepted type of dancing. "Thanks for the drink by the way," the blonde said. She spoke with the shadow of a smile still lingering on her lips. Emma mimicked the action of taking a swig from her drink. The warmth easing down her throat and coursed through her entire body almost numbing the tips of her fingers and toes.

Regina waved off the thank you with a simple nod of her head. "It's nothing." Covering a few drinks wasn't going to break her bank account anytime soon. "Well the next time you see your friends, tell them I say thanks for leaving you behind."

"I'm sure they will be making an appearance soon if they haven't really left yet. They couldn't have gotten too far, so you might be able to tell them yourself." Emma gave her a playful wink as she took a sip from the glass. She never really like the actual flavor of most beers, but it always seemed to keep her buzz at a constant level. "No bodyguards or security?" She leaned in closer as she spoke in a rather hushed voice as if anyone else was paying much attention to the two women at the bar. The distinct aroma of Regina's perfume filled her nose. It was feminine to the point of almost being too sweet, which was something that stirred the warmth.

"Every now and again I like to ditch the guards and see what sort of trouble I can land myself in," Regina said, her lips curling into a smirk. Having a constant swarm of people trying to ruin her fun really put a damper on the mood.

Emma licked her lip at the way that Regina spoke about getting into trouble, which alluded to some darker intent that she wasn't going to direct announce to a stranger. "Well, if anyone gets handsy, I'll back you up." Emma offered as she puffed out her chest and flexed slightly as to give her the appearance of being larger than she actually was. She chuckled mostly at herself and her rather distasteful attempt at a joke. The alcohol was obviously having some strange effect over her mind. Or maybe it was just Regina's presence.

Regina settled in to Emma's close proximity with ease, even going to far as to cross into the woman's small amount of personal space. She leaned in closer and let her breath tickle the blonde's ear. "Maybe it's your turn to find someone to go home with tonight Emma." She pulled back, brow cocked in question as drank in the sight of her company.

Emma hadn't initially meant for her closeness to give off the air of flirtation, but at that moment she couldn't really pin-point what her emotions were doing. Regina leaned in closer and the words that tickled her neck were the neon sign that Regina did in fact plan on being the one that Emma was going to be spending the rest of the night with. Her breathed hitched as a faint smirk appeared on her face, "Who's to say I haven't already found her?" Emma lips grazing the other's earlobe as she spoke. Emma leaned away with her eyes trained on the other female while she downed the remainder of her beer.

She must have said the right thing to draw such a delightfully wicked look from Regina. "I'd say I've found myself some trouble for the night." The brunette said taking another sip of her drink.

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**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Story Rating: M (For language, mature themes, potential violence and future sex scenes.)**

**Disclaimer: I own no rights associated with Once Upon A Time. I am simply borrowing the characters. No beta so all mistakes are my own.**

**Just wanted to say this: You guys are so wonderful for leaving reviews, adding this to your favourites, and following along on this journey. Fourty One followers already? Super awesome. Thanks for the feedback on the story so far. Side note: working on a new SQ story (very AU) that I am excited about. Don't know when I'll have the first chapter up since it will involve a fair bit of research to make sure the story holds some integrity to the time. Spoiler: 1930's NYC mob life.**

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Regina stood up abruptly after what seemed like hours of conversation. Turning to briefly face Emma, she offered a brief explanation - "I want to dance." - before making her way into the crowd.

"You... What?" But Regina either couldn't hear her, or was choosing to ignore her, and neither possibility made Emma feel comfortable with the whole situation. Emma craned her neck to follow Regina's progress. The brunette looked completely at home among the mass of bodies on the dance floor, and Emma couldn't help but keep her eyes glued to Regina's sensual movements. She tried to tear her gaze away, but found herself mesmerized by the smooth flow of Regina's body, moving in time to the music.

Emma gulped audibly. Really, the last thing Emma needed to be worrying about was the sway of Regina's hips, but she couldn't seem to make her mind move on to anything else. Suddenly, though, Regina was on the move again, making a straight line towards Emma. She couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine as Regina reached her, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "That was your cue to follow," she chuckled.

Regina then confidently reached out and grabbed hold of Emma's hand, easily pulling the woman to her feet. "Come dance with me," she murmured, tugging Emma behind her. In her head, the blonde was yelling at herself to stop. But the rest of her either disagreed with her head, or was in too much shock to manage any kind of decision. So Emma followed mutely behind, her throat dry, her heart racing, and allowed Regina to pull her in close.

Emma remained stiff at first, and then finally found her voice. "I'm not very good at this," she confessed, unable to summon the movements that she knew she should be feeling.

Regina merely smiled enigmatically, circling her arms around Emma's neck. "Just dance with me," she repeated.

Little by little, Emma let go of her reservations, giving in to the pull of Regina's body, the deceptively soft curves beneath her fingers, and the whisper of a chilled breath against her cheek. Emma still felt like she didn't know what to do. The blonde tired to look everywhere but at Regina. When she finally did meet her gaze, Emma could tell something was strange. There's a mischievous glint in the older woman's eyes – although, she could have that look all the time.

Regina led Emma to a less crowded part of the dance floor closer towards the guarded stairs. She closed the distance between the two and cupped Emma's chin with her hand. "I thought you said you could keep up," Regina teased in Emma's ear. She leaned away from the blonde, took her hand off of her chin, and offered Emma a grin. Emma furrowed her brow at the prospect of a challenge before slowly grinning back at the brunette.

Regina's hips swayed, making her dress shift up, exposing her flesh in a provocative way. Emma's hands roamed from Regina's hips, over her chest, around her neck and up in to the air. As the beat took over, she didn't notice a pair of black eyes watching her every move. Regina stepped forward again and placed her hands on the girl's hips, pulling her in, holding her tight against herself.

Emma twisted, swayed, and turned with the beat of the song. The melody and Regina guiding her movements as she felt hands run along her body, Regina's fingers skimming the thin material of her blouse before slipping underneath the garment to tease Emma. Since Regina was so close, she doesn't have to talk too loud for Emma to hear, even through the thumping bass blasting through the club's stereo.

"Would you like to go somewhere more private?"

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It was, Emma would later think, the alcohol that made her accompany Regina up to her office. It was surprising to her how many drinks she could go through when she was deep in conversation. A gulp here to wet her throat when it was getting sore from speaking, a swallow there to fill a lull in the conversation while Emma tried to think of something equally witty to counter back at Regina, and the next thing she knew there were several more empty glasses in front of her than what Emma would normally drink in one sitting. There was something about Regina that made her forget about her friends leaving her behind. Conversation just seemed to come naturally with the older woman, so naturally, she accepted Regina's offer to escape the drowning music of the club.

The warm spicy smell of cinnamon and apples lingered in the air, despite the rising temperature from the mass of bodies dancing on the floor below Regina's office. Small dimly lit lamps cast strange shadows on the elaborate wallpapered walls. The distant, faint thump of a bass from down below added to the ambiance as the two walked in- a subtle buzz coming from the large speakers underneath them. A clock beat slowly, relentlessly, from across the room as Regina lead the blonde further into the room with her hand resting against the small of her back. There were large open windowpanes exposing the crowded dance floor, engulfing the room with a sense of openness. Emma stumbled towards the open view, her hands reaching out to steady herself against the glass.

The dance floor below was a seething mass of flesh, swaying in sync with the bass that shook the club to its foundations. Large groups of people gyrated with the heavy rhythm, reflecting the colorful club lights that dance over the sheen of sweat glistening on their smooth bodies. From Emma's vantage point on the mezzanine, she could see most of the club through her slightly alcohol induced double vision: the beefy bartenders in their uniforms – tight black pants and tops that… didn't seem to cover much; the DJ in his booth, ignoring those who tapped on the glass in an attempt to request their favorites.

"Quite the view isn't it?" Regina asked, the warmth of Emma's close body pressing against the brunette's front.

Emma sunk further into Regina's body, uncaring of how familiar the act was for two strangers who had just met. "Must be nice to look down on all the little people," the blonde joked. A dark chuckle was her only response. Emma fought against Regina's hold to turn and face her. "Why me?"

"Why what, dear?"

The younger woman ducked her head a bit. "_Why_ did you come up to me at the bar? There are loads of people down there who are probably better company than me."

Regina brought a hand up to grab a strand of blonde hair and twirled it within her fingers. "Because you have such pretty hair. You should try curling it." Emma shot the older woman a disbelieving look, only to have Regina tip her head back up with her hand. "You looked lonely," she admitted. "I thought you wouldn't mind the company."

"I guess you're my hero than." The twenty one year old moved in again to try being bolder than she normally would. Regina seemed to have another plan on her mind as she guided the drunken blonde over towards the loveseat. "I should reward you."

"You can barely stand Emma." To prove her point the brunette gave Emma's shoulder a light push. Emma wasn't sure if it was the trick of the low lighting, but she was almost certain that Regina's eyes darkened a bit as she stared down at Emma from her standing position. All Emma could do was grin back up at the woman.

Maybe it was the alcohol that gave Emma that extra confidence. Maybe it was the fact that she knew her friends wouldn't interrupt since they had left her behind and she was finally alone, with no other possible interruptions. Either way, Emma reached forward those few inches, grabbed the side of Regina's' face, pulled her down, and smashed her lips hungrily against the older woman's.

Emma's heart was racing, pounding inside of her chest as her lips and skin erupted with a pleasant tingle. She half-expected her phone to go off or a tornado siren or shit, something to stop this extraordinary moment from actually happening but…nothing did. So, Emma pulled more on Regina, her other hand grasping around the older woman's dress to cause Regina to stumbled forward a bit. Regina leaned forward a little, her hands pressed against the back of the couch on both sides by Emma's head. Regina hovered over her as their lips still stayed together, not moving and just enjoying the feel of each other. Once Emma moved them to meet with hers again, though, Regina leaned forward to desperately smash against Emma before she could make the move. The familiar throb screamed inside of Emma and she yearned for Regina, desperate to touch and kiss every inch of her. Moans filled the room—possibly the blonde's—while their lips moved urgently against each other.

Emma tugged on Regina's dress even more, causing her balance to be thrown off so she fell on top of Emma, their breasts pressed together deliciously. Regina's hand cradled the nape of Emma's neck, caressing her soft skin. The older woman took charge, biting Emma's bottom lip softly to elicit a soft. Emma pulled her roughly against her in a desperate attempt to get more of Regina's lips and subsequently, she felt her burning need press against Emma's thigh through her denim. Regina made the most beautiful sound Emma swore she had ever heard. The blonde's entire body was vibrating with pleasure, burning with desire and when Regina pulled back, Emma whined from loss of contact "Regina…"

Their breaths were labored as the two stared each other down. Regina's once caramel colored eyes were darkened with desire. Had she had any way of knowing, Emma would have ventured to say hers probably looked the same. Regina refused to move as she straddled Emma on the couch. The longer the two seemed to stare at each other the harder it was for Emma to keep her eyes from closing. This was not what she wanted to be doing when someone as sexy as Regina was hovering over her, but her mind was not winning out over what her body was doing.

"Regina?" It took more effort than she thought it would to push out one last question. The words felt thick and distant to Emma. "Are _you_ lonely?"

Emma was met with an uncomfortable silence, until Regina finally answered:

"…Yes."

"Regina-"

"Sssh," she purred, Regina's voice washing over Emma like a gentle wave.

"But I want to stay awake," she protest. Her eyes were already completely shut at this point. "I want to-"

"Another time dear."

"You promise?" Emma's voice desperate in tone.

"Yes." A hand came up to pull at Emma's scarf, tearing at it until in unwound. The offensive material was quickly tossed to the floor and Regina buried her head into the younger woman's neck. Her nose trailed along the expansive porcelain skin until she lingered by Emma's ear. "You really are quite beautiful, aren't you Emma?"

She was too far gone to respond when Emma felt the slow descend of the older woman's mouth on her skin. Regina's lips felt cool, though they were silken and full as well. Each kiss felt better than the last and Emma was starting to feel dizzy; maybe it was the cold, maybe it was all of those drinks she previously had, or maybe this as the result of an intoxicating effect that was brought on by the way Regina gently stroked her cupped cheeks with her thumbs as she moved her lips along her skin.

The blonde's mind relaxed from the day as she sunk into the inviting pillows propped up against the back of the sofa. The vague yet unique smell of Regina was drifting through the air, slowly traveling from the older woman and invading Emma's senses. The sound of the grandfather clock striking a new hour rang in Emma's ears as she slowly succumbed to sleep. The last thing Emma noticed was the faint pressure of Regina's teeth against her neck before her world went dark.

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**Thanks for reading!**


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